Warum lohnt sich gedrucktes End-of-Arm-Tooling?

Gewicht. Jede eingesparte hundert Gramm am Flansch erlaubt schnellere Bewegungen oder ein kleineres RoboterModell. Dazu kommt die Formfreiheit: Luftführungen, Kabelkanäle und Anschläge liegen im Bauteil statt als Anbau.

Wie steif sind gedruckte Greifer?

PA12-CF erreicht Steifigkeiten, die für die meisten Handlingaufgaben reichen, und federt weniger als reine Kunststoffe. Bei hohen Biegemomenten über lange Ausleger legen wir Rippen gezielt in Kraftrichtung oder kombinieren mit Aluminiumkernen.

Greifen gedruckte Backen empfindliche Teile schonend?

Ja, dafür kombinieren wir steife Träger mit TPU-Auflagen. Die Auflage ist formangepasst ans Werkstück und verhindert Markierungen auf lackierten oder polierten Oberflächen.

Wie schnell bekommen wir eine neue Greifervariante?

Bei vorhandener Werkstückgeometrie dauert eine Variante 2 bis 4 Werktage. Genau darin liegt der Vorteil gegenüber gefrästem Tooling: die Produkteinführung wartet nicht auf die Werkzeugmacherei.

3D printing for robotics and automation

Lightweight grippers, end-of-arm tooling and robot cell components. Less mass at the flange, integrated air and cable routing, new variants in days instead of weeks.

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Gripper variants in 2 to 4 working days

What we print for robot cells

Automation lives on adaptation. Every new product needs new tooling, and classic machining is often too slow and too expensive for that.

End-of-arm tooling

Gripper carriers and adapter plates with integrated air channels and sensor mounts, much lighter than machined aluminium.

Gripper jaws and pads

Contoured jaws that hold the workpiece over a large area. TPU pads protect painted and polished surfaces.

Cell equipment

Depositing nests, drawer racks, sensor mounts and guards around the cell, without a joiner and without waiting.

Robot components

Housings, joint segments and lightweight structures for your own robot projects, from AGVs to gantry axes.

Suitable materials

At the cell, weight, stiffness and grip decide. Fiber-filled PA carries load, TPU grips gently, ABS covers and protects.

Read the materials guide

Details for working tooling

01STEP data of the workpiece and the permitted grip faces, so the pad sits where it is allowed to.
02Workpiece weight and acceleration, which determine grip force and wall thicknesses.
03Robot flange standard and bolt pattern, so the adapter plate fits without modification.
04Position of sensors and vacuum ports, which we integrate directly into the part.
05Environment: chips, oil mist or washdown cycles rule certain materials out.

Full DFM checklist

Lightweight design and gripper technology in 3D printing

In robotics every gram at the end effector counts twice: it reduces usable payload and increases the moments in the axes. That is exactly why FDM is strong here. With a suitable internal structure a printed gripper weighs a fraction of a machined aluminium version and can be revised twice in the same week.

For gripper jaws a combination works well: a stiff body in PA12-CF or PA6-CF plus a soft TPU contact face so delicate parts are not damaged. We print both separately and join them mechanically, which is more repeatable than a multi-material print.

For parts in continuous operation we look at cycles rather than only breaking load. Snap features and thin spring tongues fail in FDM through fatigue along the layers. Where possible we replace them with a bolted solution or lay the tongue across the layer plane.

Manufacturing data at a glance

Location: Schleswig, Germany
Part size: up to approx. 250 x 250 x 250 mm, larger parts split and joined
Quantities: 1 to several thousand, no minimum order quantity
Tolerances: approx. ±0.2 mm for PLA, PETG and carbon grades, ±0.3 mm for ABS, ASA and PC
Layer height: 0.10 to 0.30 mm
Materials: 20 engineering filaments from PLA to PA12-CF and PC FR
File formats: STEP, STL, 3MF, OBJ, IGES up to 200 MB
Lead time: 2 to 4 working days for samples, 4 to 15 working days for series

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Automation FAQ

Why is printed end-of-arm tooling worth it?: Weight. Every hundred grams saved at the flange allows faster moves or a smaller robot. Add design freedom: air channels, cable routing and stops live inside the part instead of being bolted on.
How stiff are printed grippers?: PA12-CF reaches stiffness levels that cover most handling tasks and flexes far less than unfilled plastics. For high bending moments over long reach we place ribs along the force path or combine with aluminium cores.
Do printed jaws grip delicate parts gently?: Yes, by combining stiff carriers with TPU pads. The pad is contoured to the workpiece and prevents marks on painted or polished surfaces.
How fast can we get a new gripper variant?: With the workpiece geometry available, a variant takes 2 to 4 working days. That is the advantage over machined tooling: the product launch does not wait for the toolroom.